When you have no desire, everything is sufficient.
But when always seeking, then a lot of things seem impoverished.
However, plain vegetables can soothe hunger.
A patched robe is enough to cover this bent old body.
Alone, I hike with a deer. Cheerfully I sing with village children.
The stream beneath the cliff cleanses my ears.
The pine on the mountain top fills my heart.
Ryokan, 1758–1831
Just as a snake sheds its skin,
so we should shed our past, over and over again
Jack Kornfield, Buddha’s Little Instruction Book
In yourself right now, is all the place you’ve got
Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood
This place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you.
Hafiz
Sometimes we must undergo hardships, breakups, and narcissistic wounds, which shatter the flattering image that we had of ourselves, in order to discover two truths: that we are not who we thought we were; and that the loss of a cherished pleasure is not necessarily the loss of true happiness and well-being.
Jean-Yves Leloup, Compassion and Meditation
The ten directions converging,
Each learning to do nothing,
This is the classroom of the Buddha’s training;
Mind’s empty, all’s finished.
P’ang Yün (Layman Pang) died 808, famous lay practitioner of Ch’an
Most of us are persistent. We have persistently tried to change what we cannot, usually a circumstance or someone else’s behavior. Take that energy, that persistence, that determination, that almost obsessive resolve, and persevere with the things you can do. Don’t push. Let go of concern about the seemingly impossible tasks in your life. Softly, steadily, like the rain, let your kind spirit naturally remove the obstacles in your path. Life is better when we flow. But sometimes it takes a persistent flow to change the things we can. Enough water, persistently applied, can be more powerful than rock.
Melodie Beatty, More Language of Letting Go: 366 New Daily Meditations
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